18.06.2008

Beam knocks man from lift

A demolition worker was killed yesterday in Granite City, Illinois, when a steel I-beam struck him and knocked him out of his boom lift six metres above the ground.

The man, Howard Brown, 58, of St. Louis was gutting steelwork on the old building in a former steelworks, when he was struck. He was not wearing a harness.

Brown died of blunt force trauma to the chest. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating.

Vertikal Comment

In this accident a harness may have done little to help, although the six metre fall after being hit by a steel beam certainly would not have improved Browns chances of survival.

This is one of the rare cases where even if he had been using a scissor lift, a harness might have helped save his life.